Post by maddieaddisonjr on Apr 11, 2016 22:55:17 GMT -5

As I said elsewhere, I’m rewatching the show again years later because I want to write fanfic for it and…well, it was simply time to watch Moonlighting again. These are my new responses to the show – or maybe they’ll be similar to the ones I posted on this site years ago…

1. Before we see Baby Hayes there are clues as to who the father is at the beginning of this episode. What are they?

Well, the baby looks like David! They wouldn’t have Bruce as the baby if “Sam” was the dad. No way.

2. What do you believe is the purpose of showing Baby Hayes the good and the bad parts of the world in which he will enter?

I think Jerome said he wanted to prepare Baby Hayes but the odd thing is, Jerome said he would forget the information. Maybe it’s so that as a helpless infant, he would have the comfort of knowing something about the world around him to give him a little sense of security.

3. When Jerome is showing Baby Hayes a picture of his mother (Maddie) he describes her as “an extraordinary woman, bright, beautiful, a huge heart, though often times she pays it little heed. It’s the creators’ hope that your arrival will help amend this situation.”

When Jerome describes Baby Hayes’s father (David) he says, “He has an extraordinary passion for life and an extraordinary passion for you mother.”

Whose viewpoint do you believe Jerome is speaking from? “The Creator” The viewers? Or both?

He is speaking from “The Creator’s” and the writers’ viewpoints.

Once David is revealed as the father how did you originally react? Why do you suppose that this information was not revealed to David and Maddie?

While I was not surprised, I was thrilled that it was confirmed. I can’t think of a single sensible reason or use for the plot why neither David nor Maddie ever found out that the baby was definitely David’s. I can guess a bad reason - to keep some kind of distance between them and the existence of the baby when the writers reboot the show and ditch the romantic relationship and the emotional history of David and Maddie.

4.What is your take on the Nanny For Hire business? Do you feel that this was out of character for David at this point in the show?

It was out of character for David based on the person he was at the end of “And the Flesh Was Made Word.” He had been committed to having a genuine relationship with Maddie throughout the 4th season and by the end of it had matured while taking seriously the responsibilities of fatherhood and of being a support for motherhood (Terry). Bringing a bunch of buxom women into the Blue Moon office to parade them in front of your pregnant mate in order to interview them to take care of your mate’s child (who is possibly yours as well no matter what she said) is an alternate universe David I didn’t like seeing.

Edited to add: Ask yourself this. Would David do this with Terry? That's right! The answer is no. And she was just a friend. So - if characterization was consistent then no way would the same man parade a horde of Playboy Bunnies in front of Maddie for serious nanny consideration. Wrong move on the writers' part.

5. What is the significance of Bert and Agnes’s conversation in David’s office about parenthood?

It was just characterization of Bert and Agnes.

6. Do you believe Maddie and David are “together”? Why or why not? (Yeah, I stole this one from the old thread, but it’s still a good question!)

They don’t act like they are together. They act like a people who recently had “a thing” but who are now friends - except for when they were dancing and laughing together. Other than that they were about as romantic as drywall. Again, the “why” is the writers are going for an erasure and a reboot.

7. What are your thoughts as to why the writers wrote this episode as they did?

They wanted to make the miscarriage as cute as possible - nothing too serious. However I thought showing Baby Hayes what the world was like, both good and bad, was very serious for Moonlighting.

What’s with the musical number at the end? Is it comic relief or just a way to fill some time in the episode?

It looked like an expensive way to fill in some time but it was also to make light of the reality of Maddie and David losing their baby with a scene with the baby dancing his way to another set of parents.

Do you believe that had GGC still been an active writer in Season 5 that Maddie and David’s relationship would have survived the loss of their baby?

Possibly. But maybe not - because my understanding - which may be false - is that he never thought someone like glamorous, serious, upper middle class Maddie Hayes could have or would want a sustainable relationship with wise-cracking, fun-loving, live-by-the-seat-of-his-pants, South Philly Dave.

Did you watch the commentary? Did it help you make any sense out of some of their choices?

No, I prefer the show to make sense of itself. Sometimes I like commentaries but most of the time I don’t bother - like this time.

Are you jumping sharks?

Not me! And not Moonlighting yet - not with this episode. But stay tuned.

I'd like to add that the scene with Maddie driving looked completely fake - like you could really tell she was somewhere pretending to drive and not actually moving. It was a little jarring. And just like some thought Maddie having a baby shirt in BAYAAHP was out of character (which I didn’t) I thought her listening and singing to “My Baby Love” in this episode was out of character. She’s just not a Motown, do-wop person like David is.

Post by maddieaddisonjr on Mar 5, 2017 16:17:00 GMT -5

This was a weird episode and, yes, the "feels" are bad in general - bad because miscarriages can never be funny and it otherwise just didn't seem like a real Moonlighting episode. Season five was the producers' chance to go back to the winning formula of the first three seasons but they didn't. They "neutered" D/M and made Maddie in particular a slapstick chick and it just didn't work. They took all the charm out of the show. AWWAV was the beginning of the real end and the next ep, Between A Yuk..., sealed its fate.

Post by manitobadesigner on May 30, 2017 12:44:45 GMT -5

I know, hey? The slapstick Stooges routine was really off putting. They could have done anything, even after the first three and rebooted with The Colour of Maddie but they chose not to. UGH. And if you listen to the AWWAV commentary it's clear that they know they made a huge mistake.

This was a weird episode and, yes, the "feels" are bad in general - bad because miscarriages can never be funny and it otherwise just didn't seem like a real Moonlighting episode. Season five was the producers' chance to go back to the winning formula of the first three seasons but they didn't. They "neutered" D/M and made Maddie in particular a slapstick chick and it just didn't work. They took all the charm out of the show. AWWAV was the beginning of the real end and the next ep, Between A Yuk..., sealed its fate.

Post by manitobadesigner on Jul 19, 2017 17:35:19 GMT -5

And if you listen to the AWWAV commentary it's clear that they know they made a huge mistake.

Oh, what we wouldn't give if they had only known it while they were making it--in time to change their minds and scrap the episode!

I know, right? It's so painful still after so many years.

It seemed to me as if that whole episode was engineered to keep the leads away from each other, and they had to write around that. It's always been in the back of my mind when I watch it. Almost zero screentime shared. Very odd for a premiere.